The Patriotic Songs Before Independence

Patriotism has always been an important theme in Hindi films. There were many films and songs which were banned or censored during British rule. It was this censor board that had forced V. Shantaram to change the name of his 1935 film from “Mahatma” to “Dharmatma”.  After Independence, many Films and songs were created in this theme. I talk about 10 songs that made exhortations for a free India before 1947.
The first song in my list is the song Chal Chal Re Naujawan from the film Bandhan released in 1940. It was in 1939 that the film studio Bombay Talkies hired a young and energetic Hindi poet, Pradeep, to pen lyrics of the songs. “Bandhan”,  

Song of Bandhan 1940

The next song in this list, sung by Ashok Kumar and Renuka Devi, is by a poet who would go on to be called Rashtrakavi – Kavi Pradeep for the film Naya Sansar in 1941

Song of Naya Sansar 1941

 In 1941, Sohrab Modi’s ‘Sikandar’ hit the screens. Pandit Sudarshan penned the lyrics for the movie while Mir Sahab and Rafiq Ghaznavi composed the music. The soundtrack has a song “Jeete desh humara, Bharat hai ghar baar humara, Bharat hai sansar humara” 

Song of Sikandar  1941

Kavi Pradeep wrote this song for the film Kismet during the Quit India movement. “Door Hato” was quite literally a demand for the British to quit India. To avoid objections by the censor board, Pradeep used the line “Tum Na Kise Ke Aage Jhukna German Ho Ya Japani” to make it appear that the song was against the Axis powers of World War II. 

Song of Kismet 1943

Here is one such pre-independence patriotic song. This song is from “Koshish”(1943). This obscure movie was directed by Rafiq Rizvi for Deen Pictures, Bombay. This song is sung by G M Durrani. Bashir Dehalwi is the music director. Lyricist of this song is not known.

Song of Koshish 1943

This song is from the film  Pehle Aap released in 1944. This was the first song of Mohammad Rafi.written by D N Madhok composed by Naushad.

Song of  Pehle Aap 1944

Now you would be surprised to find our National Anthem Jana Gana Man which was used before independence in a film called Hamrahi released in 1945. The song was recorded by the film’s music director R.C. Boral and rendered by a choir. While the original Rabindranath Tagore hymn had five stanzas, the first of which became the national anthem, the film recorded only four stanzas.

Song of Hamrahi 1945

This song is from the film Humjoli released in 1946. The song was Composed by Hafeez Khan and written by Anjum Pilibhiti, the song is sung by Noor Jehan,

Song of Humjoli 1946

This song was written for the film Paro during the turmoil of Independence of India. By early 1947, it was clear that India would be divided and a new nation, based on religion, would be carved out by bifurcating United India. The name Pakistan was also known to everyone. This film was released in 1947

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https://vimeo.com/276694523

It was Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay who wrote the lyrics for the powerful “Vande Maataram”. It was Sanyasi Rebellion (1763-1800) that inspired Bankim to write the historical novel ‘Ananda Matth’.This song is from film ‘Andolan’. It is not a film song actually, but our National Song, suitably woven into the film story. “Vande Mataram” could have been our National Anthem, but things were manoeuvred in such a way that it did not get that place of honour. Let us see a brief history of Vande Mataram through the years.

Song of Aandolan 1951